7

006 - Sisters of Bright and Gloom

Tohsaka Rin

The preparations are done.

The body is ready.

The mind is sharp.

The soul is strong.

The stars are right.

The circumstances are optimal.

The time is nigh.

I hold back the urge to recheck everything one last time. Nothing will be different from the last twenty times I did so, and I don't really have the time. Years of training, weeks of preparation, millions of yen invested, all for this day, for this moment. I only have one chance and can't afford to mess it up. Today I join the Heaven's Feel in the name of Tohsaka, and there won't be refunds or redos.

Half the fight is summoning the right Servant, how I do tonight might very well spell the glory or shame of my family, or even doom it forever. I'm the last of my blood, were I to fall in the war, the Tohsaka would be no more. That's why I need to succeed now, to summon Saber, the strongest Class. No, to summon the Strongest Saber, so I can take the competition by a storm.

Is it any wonder that I'm a bit nervous?

But no. I'm as prepared as humanly possible and then some. The ink my spell circle is drawn with is a mix of top-tier ingredients and my own blood, practiced again and again with a passion nearing obsession so there won't be any mistake in the drawing. The jewels powering the ritual are of a literally supernatural quality, crafted by reputed alchemists to optimize their usage for magecraft beyond anything mundane methods can hope to achieve.

…. They're also hilariously expensive and I could've never afforded them without Emiya-kun's generous contributions. I'll have to find a way to thank him properly

There's no reagent. If there's something I've learnt from the Fake Priest's stories about Father and the last War, is that a powerful Servant with poor compatibility will only be a liability. Instead, I'll aim for someone compatible I can properly work with. I am a first rate magus, so my compatibility with powerful Heroic Spirits is a given.

On top of that, my body and magic have been optimized for this moment specially, months of careful diet and exercise routines, of deep meditation and control training that means I'm at my absolute peak and there's no way I could've been better prepared without prana transfers.

Shaking off inopportune thoughts from my mind, I take a deep breath. Yes, I'm at my peak, the only way this'll go wrong is by me messing it up, so I should focus on getting into the proper headspace.

Once the ritual is done with, and assuming I don't grow overconfident, the war is as good as won. No mere interloper could hope to be at the level of one of the Founding Families. And, out of the three of us, Tohsaka holds the advantage when it comes to combat power. The Einzbern are stagnant and too concerned with abusing loopholes to focus on the war proper, and the Makiri are dying out and it'll be my little sister I have to face a miracle if they can provide a Master at all for this war.

There's no reason for doubt, I am prepared for this.

With another deep breath, I clear my mind of unnecessary thoughts and anxieties until only my determination remains.

The clock marks the twilight, and thus the ritual starts. I got this.

Silver and iron to the origin.

Gem and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone.

The ancestor is my great master Schweinorg.

The alighted wind becomes a wall.

The gates in the four directions close.

Coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate.

Shut/Fill.

Shut/Fill.

Shut/Fill.

Shut/Fill.

Shut/Fill.

Repeat every five times.

Simply, shatter once filled.

――――I announce.

Your self is under me, my fate/doom is in your sword.

In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer.

Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead.

You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance ―――!

There's a sharp spike on the ambient prana, and the circle shines blindingly bright. And then a sudden explosion from the floor beneheat shakes the whole house. Caught by surprise, I lose balance and land painfully on my rear, heart hammering in my chest at the sudden upset. But I have no time to worry about my health or my dignity, I don't even have time to worry about how the structural integrity of my home might've been compromised.

Because this shouldn't have happened, and that might mean I've ruined everything.

Too exhausted to Reinforce my body after pouring my all into the ritual, I do my best to stand up and rush downstairs the plebeian way. It takes a couple of false starts, and I need to use the walls to supplement my still recovering balance, but I manage to reach the room the explosion came from without falling down the stairs.

The first thing I notice, because I was looking for it, is a small crater on the moulding of the ceiling, revealing a blackened spell circle burnt on the wooden planks beyond. As soon as I realize what's happened, I have to bite back a very unladylike curse. The spell circle was reversed, and the summon was channeled downwards.

Before I can properly chastise myself for it though, my attention is drawn to the powerful presence in the room. One so overwhelmingly powerful I only managed to miss for an instant due to my hyperfocus on the ritual itself.

I have to look up to stare at the face of the figure, and I'm met with a clearly nonhuman visage. It's not only the otherworldly power and presence it emits, but even the features are strange and alien. Short white hair, tanned bronze skin, round red eyes and a way-too-perfect beauty that simply cannot be found on mundane humans.

When it speaks, it does so with the calm assurance of someone who has nothing to prove and knows their words won't be dismissed.

"Servant Archer, Altera." The otherworldly figure announces calmly. "The King of Destruction who brought this world to its knees, ruiner of civilizations and scourge of god has answered your call."

Before such a striking figure, I find words failing me. I had a speech prepared for this moment, a declaration of intent and dominion designed to let the Servant know from the start that I was no pushover to be led around by the personality of a summoned familiar, hero of legend or not.

"Why…" Instead, what leaves my lips is a dismayed question spoken with a thin voice. "Why are you a child?"

"Ah." The self proclaimed King of Destruction answers, looking down to where she's standing on the backrest of my couch. "You appear to have summoned me at my weakest, Master."

Ecchan is still reading in her spot when we enter the living room the following morning to prepare breakfast. There was a visible dent in the bookshelf contents, and a matching pile of volumes piled up on the table. She doesn't acknowledge our arrival beyond raising the covers of the book she's reading to hide the slight reddening of her cheeks.

Ah, I guess we were a bit loud yesterday, weren't we? Best to find some other topic to focus on.

"You know?" I comment to the bemused Haku standing beside me. "Something tells me she'll get along swimmingly with Medusa."

I can practically see the two of them sitting side by side, each with a book in her hands. Maybe giving a lap pillow to their respective Masters at the same time. Should I invest in a fireplace? I feel like that picture would gain at least a 20% increase in moe factor just by adding a fireplace. And another 10% by including hot chocolate cups.

… Now I can't wait for winter.

"Like a house on fire." Haku agrees with a deadpan tone, before thinking up something else. "Unless they decide to argue about what sort of literature is better."

"..." A shiver goes down my spine.

"Nii-san?"

"Don't even joke about that." I whisper, visions of our home in actual fire conjured by that comment. "The last thing we need right now is to tempt fate."

Before she can make some witty comment at my expense, our conversation gets interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

"I'm coming in!"

"Oh, Sakura-chan!" Haku calls, recognizing the voice of our frequent visitor. "Come in, we have someone to introduce to you!"

"Good morning Senpai, Haku-san." She greets us once she gets into the room, eyes immediately locating the stranger in the room. Her smile strains a teensy little bit, but I doubt I would've noticed if I wasn't looking for it. "You have a guest?"

"This is Ekkusu Oruta, but we call her Ecchan. She's a distant relative of dad who we'll be hosting for a while while she deals with some business here in Fuyuki." Haku introduces her Servant using a very unoriginal cover. Then again, she can astralize, so she'll be under a lot less scrutiny than the original Artoria was. "Ecchan, this is our adorable kouhai Sakura-chan. She's being tutored by Nii-san and helps us take care of the house in return. No matter how often we tell her she doesn't need to."

"A pleasure to meet you, um." Sakura hesitates, obviously stumped about what's the family name of the oddly christened and obviously foreigner person. "Ekkusu-san?"

"... Ecchan is fine." She looks away from her current book for precisely long enough to nod at Sakura before focusing back on it. "Please take care of me."

… And that's that, really. Ecchan goes back to reading without a care in the world, oblivious to poor Sakura's confusion.

"Well, shall we get breakfast going?" Haku claps, claiming the attention "I was thinking pancakes."

The rest of the morning goes by without any major incident. As it's become the norm since Haku and Sakura learnt to collaborate, I'm shoved away from the kitchen while they work. Like every time we have visitors, I can feel Medea holding back the urge to materialize to sit at my side through our bond.

Like every time that happens, I send my feelings of affection and appreciation through our bond. What have I done to deserve this competent, devoted and understanding woman in my life? I'll have to make sure to pamper her properly later in the day.

"Haku-san?" Sakura's worried voice pulls me from my thoughts. "Are you sure that's… um..."

I look towards the table, where the pancakes are already served and Haku is pouring the maple syrup. Or rather, has poured the maple syrup on every plate and is emptying the bottle on the last one.

"Ecchan has a condition, she needs a lot of glucose intake in her diet." She claims with a wide smile as the syrup level gets worryingly close to spilling over the edge. "Don't worry about it."

After breakfast, I ask for a word in private with Sakura. She accepts with a nervous but hopeful smile that hurts to watch and follows me into one of the empty rooms. She's stayed here overnight once or twice, when our study sessions ran too late.

I don't miss the way she notices the futon and goes stiff, face reddening with impure thoughts.

To be honest, there's not a lot of ways I can go about what I'm about to do, not while there's that maggot spying through her eyes. So I've decided to cut the chase and get to the point and look at her straight in the eye to ask her a question. Maybe the only one that matters.

"Sakura, do you trust me?"

"More than anyone else in the world."

The answer is instantaneous, confident and certain. Any flustering or embarrassment caused by her expectations instantaneously banished by my serious voice. I can't help but smile and ask another, less serious question.

"More than Haku?"

"Haku-san is my best friend, but Senpai…" She looks away, face and ears going red again. "Senpai is more dependable."

"Good. Then please depend on me for this too."

"What do you mean, Senp–?"

And that's as fast as she goes before her eyes roll up and she loses consciousness. I catch her before she can hit the ground, gently dropping her on the futon that was prepared exactly for this. I take a deep breath.

Have I miscalculated anything? There are approximately ten ways I can fuck this up if things don't go to plan.

Was Medusa closer than I expected?

Did Zouken prepare some emergency measure for a situation like this?

Will Gilgamesh come knocking just to fuck with me?

Can the Black Shadow manifest during the day?

Can…?

I forcibly stop my mind for picturing scenarios of doom. The chance is as good as it'll ever get, and fortune favors the bold.

"You know the drill, Princess."

"Leave it to me, Master." Medea answers, materializing beside me while casting some sort of black mist over Sakura. Hopefully a method to keep the worms in the docile while we spell their doom. "Everything is ready, the operation won't take me more than a minute."

"Good. I'm pretty sure Rider can't sense her state while 'borrowed' to Shinji. But if she can, a minute might be all we have."

Things shouldn't be that bad, we have Saber to hold an attacker back if push comes to shove, but the less violence is employed by any party, the easier negotiations will be later on. And I have no intention of fighting Medusa to the death anyway.

"Of course Master, you don't have to worry." Medea doesn't bother arguing, a snap of her fingers making the magic arrays on the room visible while her unsettling dagger materializes in her other hand. "Magic's principles, divine providence, the rules of the world... All creation... I will send back everything to their origins. [Rule Breaker]!"

I can't help a shudder at the specific chant of her Noble Phantasm. Sending everything back to their origins… Isn't that Regression? The domain of Tiamat, one of the Beasts of Humanity. No, I shake those thoughts off my head. There are more important things to focus on right now. And it's probably just an unfortunate coincidence anyway.

With inhumane precision, Medea's attack wade through the layers of pacts and rituals Sakura is involved with, neatly sidestepping everything we need to remain in place to strike straight into the heart of the problem… pun intended.

The magical blade severs the bonds that make the Crest Worms a part of Sakura and those keeping the soul and consciousness of a certain centenarian magus anchored to the living world. And thus, the hero who once defeated the Demon Pillar Barbatos and dreamed of a better world, the maggot blindingly gripping to life and capable only of fouling everything he touched, was no more.

Makiri Zolgen, who thought himself safe hiding within his indestructible 'project', dies not with a roar, but with a whisper. Rest now in peace, and may your feats be remembered longer than your depravities.

"Um…"

"Master?"

"What'll happen now with the swarm of carnivorous worms in the Makiri basement?"

"..."

"Caster?"

… I might've made a slight blunder.